Marty and Emily: April 2014

We took a week long trip up to UT for Spring Break. I'm much less able to make it a full year without visiting all our family up there when I have a little baby (they change so fast!). We planned to go and then had to cancel for both Fall and Christmas break, so this time we were serious!

And then the night before was unbearable. I was having weird anxiety over everything and finally fell asleep at around 1:30 knowing that our alarm was set for 3:45. No need for it, though. Camille was up a crying at 3:30. Marty had been up half the night feeling sick. We were both so tired, but with Camille up we figured we should just go for it. So we were out the door by about 4:30. BUT, we realized we locked ourselves out of the house. We just decided we would worry about it when we got home. THEN we needed to stop at Fry's to try to find something in the pharmacy to help Marty out. Before we even got into Phoenix, we had already stopped for bathrooms for Marty three times. Keeping this up was going to turn a 12 hour car ride into a 20ish hour car ride. So we swallowed our disappointment, called our parents, and put off the UT trip for a third time. We figured that at least we could go to the stake conference we had been feeling pretty guilty about missing. We came home, Marty went strait to bed, and I wandered around the house trying not to "mess anything up" and seeing how little I could get away with unpacking, just hoping we'd be able to try again the next day. That was Saturday, and Sunday Marty was feeling quite a bit better. So we went to Stake Conference and got to see our wonderful friend and neighbor get called to the stake presidency. We left during the closing song and high-tailed it out of there. We made it to St. George by bedtime and stayed at Marty's Aunt and Uncle's house. That night turned out to be perfect, surprisingly. I thought the babies would be anxious and keep everyone up all night. But we got there, played happily for an hour, and then everyone went to bed and slept like rocks. We made it to Spanish Fork by 11:30, just relieved to have made it there at all!

It was a quick trip, but sorely needed. Have I mentioned yet that February was out-of-control-crazy? :) I have rarely ever seen Marty so burned out and trunky! We had a few days to chill at my parents' house, and a few days to do the same at Greg and Nickelle's. For the FIRST TIME since I FIRST brought a baby to Utah seven years ago, every kid and baby slept ALL the way through the night EVERY night. Yes, that was my first thankful item in my prayers.

Here is a rest stop in Wikenburg. Every trip I say we are not going to stop there because there is always a line a mile long and the toilets don't flush. And every time we have to stop and there is just no where else. But hey, a photo op.

For the first time, Gabe got to share the "big kid room" at GandG O's. Marty and I were remarking on how much Gabe seems to be drifting out of the baby camp and into the big kid category. He did pretty well. This is how we found them the first night. The second night, Brynn came up to tell us that Gabe was in her bed snuggling with her and he threw up. Too much junk food, I think. But he got the hang of it by the end.

My parents are just too thoughtful and good to me. My dad had asked if I wanted to see the Dead Sea Scrolls exhibit at the Leonardo, which I did. So when we got to Salt Lake and parked, he got out of the car and said, "We wanted to treat you to a date. The tickets are waiting for you at the desk. Here is some money for dinner, there is a nice restaurant right inside the museum. We're taking the kids to the children's museum. Have a nice time and call us when you are through!" And then he disappeared. Marty and I smiled at each other and he said, "Wow, that was smooth!"

The exhibit was incredible. It was hard to believe how ancient some of that stuff really was. Most of my favorite stuff was in the "no photography zone," but here are a few things. It was interesting to see that some of the scrolls mentioned things that are mentioned in the bible but seem to be almost lost from it (Enoch, a New Jerusalem). And I couldn't help but think that some of the war pieces really were from the battle of Hezekiah with the Assyrians. And there were tons of idols, especially goddesses of fertility, and I noticed all but one of them were pretty precisely beheaded. Hmm.... History is amazing. Are you listening, kids? It's amazing!

After that, we met back up and headed to the Church History Museum to show the kiddos the Jean Rio Baker movie and piano.

There it is. Sigh. It's the grand piano in the back and it's "ours." I think about this woman often, who left her wealth and life behind in London to join with the Saints in Utah, but just couldn't leave the grand piano. She's an inspiration to me and usually after I leave this place, I have the strongest desire to dust off sheet music, write in my journal, and express my gratitude for her, knowing that without her I wouldn't be who or where I am today.

Who knew post-it notes could be so consuming? Brynn found them at my mom's house and proceeded to label everything.

We met up with Anne and Neal in Provo because the kids were so disappointed they weren't at the St. George house. It was just long enough to see some adorable lambs, play with the beloved marble racer, and eat ice cream.